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Recoletos caravan reached the zenith
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Boundary of the provinces of Ilocos and Cagayan
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APARRI. MAY 9, 2006. We woke up early the next morning and left St. Mary’s Seminary. By 6:30 a.m., the three vehicles drove back to St. William the Hermit Cathedral. The group of Fr. Ferdinand Hernando, Prof. Romanillos, Rev. Ian Espartero and SARF sister Elena Culaton had sojourned at the adjoining Monastery of Santa Clara of the Clarisas Capuchinas Sacramentarias. They were awakened by the heavenly voices of the contemplative nuns chanting their Lauds to the Lord Jesus. They caught up with the caravan for their morning fraternal agape.
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Fr. Ferdinand Hernando, OAR, celebrated mass with diocesan administrator Msgr. Policarpo Albano, the 30 priests of Laoag Diocese inside Arnold Janssen hall, adjacent to the cathedral. They gathered at Laoag for their monthly assembly-cum-recollection. Father Danilo Tiong, vicar general of Imus Diocese and rector of Our Lady of the Pillar Seminary, concelebrated with them. He is the brother of Mrs. Tess Ablan who with her husband Nonong treated us to a fine dinner at their Palazzo de Laoag Hotel.
The contemplative nuns of the Carmelite convent also received the blessing and love of St. Ezekiel Moreno through Fr. Soy who visited them and later had a healing session for nuns.
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Villa del Mar Ivory Resort in Pagudpud, Ilocos
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The five-vehicle Biyaheng Rekoleto caravan moved on after 9:30 a.m. and hit the road on to their next destination. After a two hour trip we reached the Pagudpod. Enchanted by the scenic and idyllic background, the group pulled beside the arched marker, posed for posterity as cameras clicked away. We arrived at Villa Del Mar beach resort a few minutes before noon. Our hosts Rogelio and Egodella Benemerito, owners of the resort, welcomed and served us with a bountiful harvest from the sea. A few minutes after lunch, some members of the group enjoyed the immaculate white beach and basked under the blazing sun, while the rest of the crew took a sought-after rest at adjoining cottages.
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Pagudpud marker
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We sped off at past three in the afternoon and took the long stretch en route to Aparri. Along the way, the members of the caravan just couldn’t help themselves praising the pristine beauty of the northernmost region of Luzon. We were simply awed by picture-perfect view of mountains, hills, plains, valleys, the sea and its horizon plus the man-made structures such as the Patapat bridge whose winding snake-like feature stopped us on our tracks for picture-taking and the Golden-Gate-like Magapit bridge which did more than just connect two towns between a wide flowing river. Ms. Rose Gumaran, our Aparri hostess, met us at a bridge some three kilometers before the fabled town.
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Tomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Appari, Cagayan
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After a seemingly endless drive along the all-cemented highway, we arrived at Lyceum of Aparri. We walked to nearby Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary where Fr. Joel also played host to us. Its palace-like edifice wowed the group. We were treated with much hospitality and took the night off carrying in our dreams of the marvelous day that was.
-Bro. Ralph Ciceron/Emmanuel Luis Romanillos
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